BITFINEX

This Hong Kong based site has been a leading Bitcoin exchange platform for several years. However, in August 2016 was subject to the 3rd largest ‘Bitcoin heist’ in history. Though this is obviously major red flag, Bitfinex must be commended for returning 75% of funds stolen, back to customers and continuing to trade. Aside from this Bitfinex functions as highly advanced trading platform, much like traditional stockbroking platforms. Therefore, this site is a must for those who wish to trade bitcoin in a manner similar to trading in forex markets. The hacking will undoubtedly damage Bitfinex’s reputation, but it still trades at a decent volume and if anything the hack has aided the wider Bitcoin community. People are now scrutinising exchange sites more heavily and spreading their Bitcoin assets across many sites. On the other hand Bitcoin price that crashed heavily following the hack has now rebounded strongly. This shows that people understand that there is an inherent risk in trading Bitcoin and what happened to Bitfinex could have happened to an other site. Therefore when looking for a platform to trade Bitcoin, Bitfinex should still be one of the frontrunning exchanges.